The Startup Diet (Lost 15 lbs while at an Incubator)

I'm in college, and I budget myself $35/week for food, putting me at $5 a day. I eat very comfortably and I almost never eat leftovers. If I wanted to, I'm sure I could live on as $20/week comfortably, but I happen to enjoy the social aspect (or convenience) of eating out occasionally.

There's no secret or trick or magical diet, and you can pretty much eat whatever you want - you don't have to limit yourself to lettuce and beans. I'll give some insight on what works for me.

I buy groceries every Sunday night, spending $15-20 each week. My weekly purchase usually consists of some combination of the following: frozen chicken breasts, pork shoulder, eggs, asparagus, onions, carrots, apples, oranges, bananas, bread, turkey, peanut butter, jelly, sliced cheese, yogurt, rice, pasta, tortillas, nuts, canned tuna, mayonnaise, mustard, crackers, and occasionally canned soup.

Some things last obviously longer than a week (rice, frozen chicken, peanut butter, jelly, etc). During those weeks I usually spend $20+, resulting in less spent the following weeks. I always buy generic-brand items, except for certain items where quality can be an issue (tuna). I have a drawer full of spices that get used constantly. Like I said before, I almost never eat leftovers. I prepare as much food as I can eat in a single sitting.

Here's what I don't buy: frozen food (pizzas, hot pockets, tv dinners, etc), snacks, junk food, soda, milk (lactose intolerant), beef (usually too expensive), coffee, sugary drinks (Gatorade, lemonade, fruit juice), name-brand items, and beer.

Of my $35 weekly budget, $15-20 is spent on groceries and the rest is spent eating out. Usually I eat out because there is simply not a free hour in the day to run back to my apartment and whip a sandwich together between classes/meetings. Eating out, for me, means grabbing a sandwich from Subway or Potbelly, or stuffing my face with delicious Chinese buffet food with friends if I really feel like splurging ($7.50). On the weekends I'll go crazy and get a huge slice of pizza and soda from Sam's club ($2.80?).

So there you go. You can eat almost whatever you want, healthy or unhealthy, for $35 or less each week. Theres no trick or magical formula.

I also lost 10 pounds once with the "walk 25 minutes to the office and another 25 minutes back home" program.

The Startup Diet: How I lost 35lbs while working overtime http://paulstamatiou.com/programmers-startup-diet-how-i-lost...

2) Bean-based diets have issues, and could lead to bloating and other not so pleasant things, especially if you aren't a solo founder. Easier-to-digest proteins, flax seeds and nuts, cottage cheese, tofu, mixing it up can help a bit.

3) A bit contradictory here: "Healthy, energy-filled food to enhance productivity Low daily calorie intake to prevent weight gain" If you're going to eat fewer calories, your energy is going to drop. Make sure you eat enough calories, and keep it complex to keep your blood sugar stable.

4) If you have a propensity to binge, don't exercise really hard, favor frequent, consistent exercise rather than rare, intense ones.

5) Set a cut off time in the evening, and absolutely do not eat after that time. Do not eat right before you go to bed.

Even if you're a vegan you should consider Oysters. They are the most concentrated natural source of Zinc, do not have a central nervous system, and oyster farming actually helps clean the environment. Diets that are mainly vegetarian have too high of a copper to zinc ratio, so Oysters are a good way to offset this.

Also sardines are a really good, cheap source of Omega3 fatty acids, Calcium, Vitamin D, and B12, which also all might be low in such a diet. Also unlike much larger fish such as tuna, they contain much lower levels of Mercury and other heavy metals and are much more likely to be sustainably fished.

When I've done this, I can usually get a large number of meals replaced in one container with a cost per meal between $2-4.